Transcrição

1 Institute for Policy Studies Baltimore, Maryland USA Bridging Social Divides: The Role of the Third Sector

2 BRIDGING SOCIAL DIVIDES: THE ROLE OF THE THIRD SECTOR Statement of the Fifteenth Annual Johns Hopkins International Fellows in Philanthropy Conference, Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 5 9, 2003 PREAMBLE Enormous differences exist among peoples throughout the world. These differences reflect to an important degree the underlying pluralism and diversity of peoples and societies. As such, they enrich human existence and add variety to human life. But differences can also harden into divides. This happens when people are excluded from the exercise of rights or from opportunities available to others. When this occurs, healthy pluralism gives way to painful exclusion, and enormous emotional, psychological, social, and economic harm can result. The present statement examines the role that third sector organizations can play in overcoming such exclusion. The statement emerged from the work of the participants in the Fifteenth Annual Johns Hopkins International Fellows in Philanthropy Conference held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in July Over 200 third sector activists and experts from Brazil gathered by SENAC, a major Brazilian training organization, and ABDL, a capacity building and networking organization in the field of sustainable development, joined with Fellows and associates of the Johns Hopkins International Fellows in Philanthropy Program from 30 other countries to consider the role of third sector institutions in Bridging Social Divides in Brazil and throughout the world. Of particular concern in this conference were four types of exclusion: (1) economic exclusion, (2) ethnic exclusion, (3) generational exclusion, and (4) exclusion of disabled persons. The present Statement grew out of the conference deliberations but considers the issue of exclusion and the role of the third sector in overcoming it more generally. 1

3 I. THE NATURE OF EXCLUSION Exclusion is a complex phenomenon with numerous dimensions emotional, psychological, physical, and economic to name just a few. Exclusion is not just about poverty, though poverty is often one of its most dramatic manifestations. Exclusion is also about rights, about access, and about opportunity. When the poor lack access to job opportunities, education, health care, or credit, they are excluded. When indigenous peoples or racial and ethnic groups are treated with disrespect or subjected to discrimination in hiring or public services, they are excluded. When children and youth are deprived of intellectual stimulation or proper nutrition, they are excluded. When the elderly are left out of social interactions and cut off from their economic role, they are excluded. Exclusion is a dynamic process. It changes over time as economic and social conditions change. Attention to overcoming exclusion and promoting inclusion must therefore be a constant preoccupation. Exclusion is a matter of concern not only for what it does to the excluded. Rather, it affects us all. It robs society of the full human potential of those who are excluded, and it weakens the moral fabric of society. Everything that exists co-exists, Brazilian philosopher Frei Betto has observed. Our own well-being is therefore tied up with the wellbeing of others, and social divides diminish us all. II. THE ROLE OF THE THIRD SECTOR IN COMBATING EXCLUSION Third sector organizations can play an enormous role in overcoming exclusion and promoting inclusion. Indeed, few social institutions are better positioned to perform this role. This is so because third sector organizations are often in close touch with excluded communities and can thus ensure that missing voices are heard and excluded groups mobilized to claim rights that are theirs as citizens. More specifically, third sector organizations can promote inclusion in at least ten different ways: 2

4 1. Consciousness-raising In the first place, third sector organizations can play a crucial role in changing the attitudes and perceptions that often lie at the base of exclusion. This includes the attitudes of those doing the excluding as well as those experiencing it. The former need to be instructed in tolerance and appreciation of diversity, and the latter in building self-confidence and overcoming attitudes of inferiority and superiority. Third sector organizations can also conduct and disseminate research that documents the nature and extent of exclusion and shows the consequences it has. Bridging divides begins with self-awareness, and third sector organizations are well-positioned to encourage it. 2. Empowerment Consciousness-raising is itself but a first step toward creating a sense of community among those who are excluded, and toward building the concrete connections that can give this sense of community tangible expression. Third sector organizations provide vehicles of participation and association among similarly situated people, making it possible for them to act in concert on matters of common concern. In the process, they help foster leadership, which itself is crucial to promoting inclusion. 3. Opening public space Where inclusion requires political, and not just economic or social action, as it often does, third sector organizations can also be important in opening a space for such action. This can take many different forms: creating an enabling legal environment for community-based groups, opening channels of communication with government officials, guaranteeing the right of expression and assembly, and promoting effective political participation by excluded groups. 4. Advocacy Once the space for political involvement is open, third sector organizations can also help those excluded defend their rights and push for supportive public policies. This can include anti-discrimination laws as well as changes in tax and other policies that foster inclusion and open access and opportunities. 3

5 5. Monitoring Third sector organizations can be important not only in changing laws but also in ensuring their enforcement. This can take the form of monitoring implementation, publicizing enforcement lapses, and initiating legal action where necessary to ensure that laws are effectively applied. Third sector organizations can also monitor the performance of private sector organizations and publicize instances of discrimination or exploitation. 6. Promoting innovation Thanks to their generally small scale and flexibility and their engagement of grass-roots voices, third sector organizations are often in a position to identify and experiment with novel approaches. They can also serve as clearinghouses for promising ideas and vehicles for diffusing the resulting innovations. 7. Resource mobilization Third sector organizations can mobilize a broad range of special resources in the battle for inclusion. They can energize volunteers, foster contributions of time and money, gain access to facilities and equipment, and influence the policies of private and public donors. All of this can add significantly to the pool of resources available for community problem-solving. 8. Tailoring services to community needs Rooted as they often are in the communities affected by exclusion, third sector organizations are in a position to know community needs. They can therefore tailor responses to the needs of excluded groups and ensure more sensitive responses to their needs. 9. Mediation and conflict resolution Third sector organizations can also help promote inclusion by serving as a bridge among sectors and communities, avoiding or resolving conflicts, and offering channels of communication that may not be available otherwise. They can reach across social and economic divides and bring together people of good will interested in resolving apparent conflicts and forging new alliances. 4

6 10. Economic influence Third sector organizations and their allies in the business community are also economic actors with considerable economic clout. They can thus promote inclusion by practicing non-discrimination in their own employment policies. They can also work to improve the flow of credit to disadvantaged groups and bring pressure to bear through their investment and other policies to encourage societal practices that reduce exclusion. III. OBSTACLES TO CIVIL SOCIETY S SUCCESS IN BRIDGING DIVIDES While third sector organizations possess important advantages in bridging societal divides, they also face a number of obstacles. For one thing, the third sector s own reputation as an agent of inclusion is far from perfect. Functioning as vehicles through which people can band together to secure benefits they cannot secure from the market or the state, third sector organizations have sometimes served as agents of privilege rather than inclusion. Elite schools, expensive health care institutions, and sophisticated cultural institutions are examples of third sector institutions that have sometimes functioned in this way. Even those third sector institutions firmly committed to promoting inclusion face considerable difficulties, however. Foremost among these are the following: 1. Lack of knowledge and visibility A perennial problem facing third sector organizations is lack of knowledge and visibility. This takes a variety of different forms: Lack of knowledge on the part of the general public and key policymakers about the third sector, the role it plays in promoting inclusion, and the results it achieves. This can limit the influence the sector can bring to bear; Lack of knowledge on the part of third sector organizations about the communities they wish to serve. Third sector organizations face a perennial challenge in trying to hear communities and be responsive to their wishes; 5

7 Lack of knowledge on the part of third sector organizations about government decision-making processes and how to influence them; Lack of managerial training and capacity on the part of third sector organizations, which can limit the effectiveness with which they go about their work; Lack of a sufficient culture of participation within third sector organizations, which can make it difficult for them to mobilize excluded communities to fight for their rights. 2. Lack of resources Third sector organizations often lack both the financial and human resources they need to carry out their work most effectively. What is more, competition for funding creates suspicions and rivalries among third sector organizations, complicating the task of forging alliances. Where government funding is available, other problems can arise because of political sensitivities to third-sector criticisms of government policies. 3. Limited power and influence Third sector organizations can often find themselves marginalized by more powerful social actors in business and government. Quite often the political space for third sector involvement is limited and public recognition of the role these organizations play quite constrained. Complicating things further, the media are often ill-informed about the third sector and the problems it seeks to address. These problems are naturally magnified in situations where lack of law and order and domestic conflict make third sector activities even more difficult to sustain. 4. Difficulties of collaboration While these limitations can be overcome in important part through collaborations and partnerships, such cooperation is itself difficult to organize and sustain. Partnerships require continuous negotiation and considerable skill, and third sector organizations often lack the skills and the managerial resources needed to make complex partnerships work. What is more, the incentives for forging part- 6

8 nerships are more than offset by the competitive pressures against them, leading to territorialism and limited exchange of information. 5. Indifference or prejudice The tasks facing third sector organizations are further complicated by the indifference and lack of sensitivity that often exists toward excluded people, and hence toward the organizations seeking to help them. Prejudices confront third sector organizations at every turn as they seek to undo the causes and consequences of exclusion. IV. STEPS NEEDED TO EQUIP THIRD SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS TO BRIDGE DIVIDES To overcome these obstacles to more effective third sector engagement in promoting inclusion, five crucial steps seem most urgently needed. These include the following: 1. Increasing public awareness Significant effort is needed to raise awareness about the third sector, the problems it is addressing, and the success it is having. This can take a variety of forms: Media campaigns to increase public awareness of the nature and extent of exclusion and of the role of third sector organizations in combating it; Dissemination of best practices developed by third sector organizations to promote inclusion; Education of the media itself so that it understands this sector and the role it plays; Increased research to improve the knowledge base regarding the third sector and its role in promoting inclusion in order to root these public awareness campaigns in more solid and reliable information; Broader inculcation of a culture of participation and tolerance through programs in schools and elsewhere. 7

9 2. Increasing third sector organizational capacity For third sector organizations to gain traction on important issues of exclusion, they must themselves be effective organizations equipped to operate in the multiple environments that affect the persistence of exclusion. Third sector organizations must therefore be able to listen to their communities, engage these communities actively in their operations, operate effective programs, demonstrate this effectiveness, interact with potential partners in government and the business community, and maintain their fiscal health. All of this requires trained personnel who understand how to operate effectively without sacrificing the core of their mission. Expanding the opportunities for management training targeted on the special needs and characteristics of third sector organizations is thus a high priority. What is more, such training needs to be continuous in view of the dynamic character of modern technology and the changing nature of third sector operations. 3. Networking and partnerships In a time of limited resources, third sector organizations must improve their ability and enhance their willingness to forge partnerships, both within the third sector and with other sectors. Existing networks must be strengthened and new ones formed. Third sector organizations need to forge links with business and government to overcome problems of exclusion. This will require training and research on the nature of networks and partnerships and instruction about how to make partnerships work. Opportunities also exist to make use of new technologies to share information more widely and foster exchange of information. A new network paradigm is opening for third sector operations, as it is for the operation of business and government, and third sector organizations must learn to adapt to this paradigm and make it work for them. 4. Improved legal environment Despite significant improvements around the world, important challenges remain in the legal environment facing third sector organizations in many parts of the world. Changes are therefore needed to (1) remove unwarranted barriers to the formation of 8

10 third sector organizations; (2) provide incentives for charitable donations by individuals and corporations; and (3) ensure meaningful access by third sector organizations to the policy process either through formal consultative relationships or more informal solicitations of third sector views buttressed by access to a supportive media. 5. Transparency and monitoring If third sector organizations wish to promote openness on the part of government and the business sector, they must take care to ensure that their own house is in order. This will require greater transparency for third sector organizations, a greater commitment to performance measurement, and more thorough monitoring of third sector operations. CONCLUSION Overcoming exclusion is not the task of any single sector or set of people. Exclusion is a social phenomenon and as such can only be overcome through collective action. Everyone therefore has a role to play. The third sector is unusually well-positioned to perform a leadership role in this process. To do so, however, it must continue to muster the leadership, the energy, the resources, the partners, and the skills that are required. This will not be an easy task, but we are convinced it is one that can and will be addressed. Exclusion robs us all of talents and energies we can ill afford to waste. The third sector can lead the way to helping us create the inclusive society we need. 9

17 INTERNATIONAL FELLOWS IN PHILANTHROPY PROGRAM OTHER CONFERENCE ACTION STATEMENTS BUILDING THE ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF CIVIL SOCIETY Istanbul, Turkey, 2002 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR AND THE REDUCTION OF POVERTY Santiago, Chile, 2001 STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES: THE ROLE OF THE THIRD SECTOR Melbourne, Australia, 2000 BUILDING CIVIL SOCIETY: A GUIDE TO ACTION Bangalore, India, 1999 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WELFARE STATE Rome, Italy, July 1997 NONPROFITS AND DEVELOPMENT: THE CHALLENGE AND THE OPPORTUNITY Mexico City, 1996 TOWARD A VITAL VOLUNTARY SECTOR II: THE CHALLENGE OF PERMANENCE AN ACTION STATEMENT Tallin, Estonia, 1995 TOWARD A VITAL VOLUNTARY SECTOR I: AN INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLE Lille, France, 1993; Jerusalem, Israel, 1992; Accra, Ghana,

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